Monday links — Erickson hired as assistant at Utah, and more

What had been rumored for a week has become official today, with former Seahawks and Washington State coach Dennis Erickson returning to the Pac-12 as co-offensive coordinator at Utah. Here are details.

Remember that UW does not play Utah the next two seasons. So the direct impact of this move on UW could be rather negligible.

I’m stumped, though, to recall someone with the coaching resume of Erickson returning to the game as an assistant — he was last an assistant in 1981 when he was offensive coordinator at San Jose State. He became head coach at Idaho in 1982 beginning a career that saw him win Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors at three different schools and two national titles at Miami — he is one of just 18 coaches in history to win two national titles.

Erickson, 65, spent last season essentially retired other than helping as an assistant with the high school team his son coaches in Oregon.

He will co-coordinate the Utah offense with 26-year-old Brian Johnson, who was in his first season as a coordinator in 2012 when the Utes struggled offensively, ranking 11th in the Pac-12 at 324.4 per game, ahead of only Colorado (and just behind UW, which was 10th at 355.2.

Undoubtedly, this will be an interesting move to watch from afar.

IN OTHER NEWS. …

— Rivals.com has released its first ranking of the top 100 recruits for the Class of 2014. The one Washington player on the list os Bellevue High defensive back Budda Baker at No. 68.

— Athlon’s evaluates the best football-basketball coach tandems in the Pac-12.